I am finally in Portland, after a COVID and flu-filled break, ready to start the semester for real, not through a computer screen. But to say it was easy to get to this point would be an absolute LIE.
I managed to move up my trip for two weeks later when I found out about online school, and at the moment it sounded like the BEST thing ever. To be fair, I still have no regrets (I finally got to go out after quarantining). The itinerary was to remain the same; Vienna - Amsterdam - Seattle - Portland. Two layovers, in a timely manner. Pretty doable. However, I was flying from Vienna, Austria, while my entire break was spent in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Typically this is around a 13 hours car ride or 15-hour bus drive on a direct route. In pandemic times though, these long routes are canceled, and you just switch between buses.
So to give you an overview of my intended travel:
Mostar, B&H --(car)--> Imotski, Croatia --(bus)--> Split, Croatia --(bus)--> Zagreb, Croatia --(bus)--> Vienna, Austria --(plane)--> Amsterdam, Netherlands --(plane)--> Seattle, USA --(plane)--> Portland, USA
I started my journey on a Saturday morning and was supposed to arrive on Monday around 4 pm. This really reminds me of my grandma's stories of how she used to go to school.
To finally begin, my trip started out kind of fantastic. Though two days earlier I was crying my eyes out, knowing I'd miss my boyfriend and my family and friends, the day before was great. I finished packing, said goodbye to everyone in such a sweet way, had a very relaxed and amazing day altogether and I felt content leaving afterward. Driving to Imotski was very fun, the weather was sunny and the atmosphere was fun, which is great because my family has a tradition of fighting in the car (oops). When I got onto the first bus, there was only one more person! It was like we rented the whole thing for ourselves. I started my 'main character' playlist and enjoyed the landscapes of Croatia.
Skip forward to Split, where we had a one-hour-long stop before the next bus. Split is a city on the Adriatic sea that is just breathtaking on such a beautiful day, and the bus station was right by the city center.
I had the best time just walking around, bathed in the sun and again, listening to my main character playlist. After getting on the bus, I took a nap and woke up to a
mesmerizing view, the sky a mix of all shades of red, purple and pink.
I thought to myself 'This might be the best trip I've been on by bus', and I meant it at that moment.
Oh how wrong I was.
The plan was to visit my friend in Zagreb since I had around 3 hours there, who lives in the center. I was going to drop my suitcases of at the baggage station that is usually always open when I am there, but this is where my downfall began. It indeed was NOT open. So I had to walk through the capital with my 50 lb suitcase and carry on. Fun! -_-
So when I finally did make it, I saw her building, which was an ancient building at the square, with a circular staircase. In which she lived on the LAST floor. Elevator? NOPE. So I got an extra workout... Yay. My soul dropped out of my body from all that work. But at least being at her place was nice, she even made us quesadillas! But I had to leave on time to not be late for my bus at 23:10, so I left around 22:20, to get on a tram and make it on time. Once I got to the station, I glanced at my ticket and realized my bus leaves at 23:40! So I got there almost an hour earlier. It was freezing outside, my head hurt so so bad, and I had nowhere to buy a bottle of water to take my pill with. Correction: the store closed 15 minutes earlier and the lady looked at me through the door with my suitcases and still refused to open. SPLENDID.
Welp, I found a vending machine thankfully and facetimed with my mom to pass the time. After getting onto the bus after forever, my earbud fell out and I looked for it for 5 minutes before seeing it on my seat. A mini breakdown later, I decided to just try to sleep. For a bit I thought I had a fever, but then I realized it was just a heater that was burning into my head. Things were looking a bit better, and then we came to the Slovenian boarder where there 3 other buses in front of us, and the policeman was checking each person one by one painfully slow. One policeman, while two others were smoking and not doing anything. So thanks for keeping us at the boarder for 2 hours.
And of course there was absolutely no signal and I couldn't let my cousin know I was late, so she had to wait for me in Vienna, at 5 am in her car. I'm sorry again. Took a pill, and went to sleep. The sleep was good, and I felt a bit more alive afterwards, so I was kind of relaxed once again. My cousin, her fiance and I sat to eat lunch and talk. Maybe you won't believe me when I tell you I was so excited, telling them how much I loved my airline for moving my flight without charge, when I got an email 3 minutes later - 'Your flight was cancelled, our apologies'.
No words. I started laughing histerically from desperation.
To take a break and calm down I went to the bathroom, and realized I got my period. Then I went to charge my phone and charging didn't work. All in the span of 15 minutes. The universe has a sense of humor huh?
Thankfully, my airline moved me to a slightly different flight that still should have gotten me here at almost the same time - even earlier! And my phone started to randomly charge again. Good stuff.
Woke up at 3:30 am to go to the airport, since Austria decided that checking in online was a COVID hazard somehow. Whilst waiting for 5 am since I was not told that's when the shift begins, and I can not check in before, I got an email that my flight for Salt Lake City was delayed until 14:45, instead of 10:40 as it was intended to be. So I would miss my Portland flight. And I was not placed on a new PDX flight yet. I was just floating through space waiting for the Amsterdam flight.
Also, there was a huge storm in Amsterdam, so that flight had me clutching my seat praying to God, and wondering was studying abroad worth dying in the Netherlands. The turbulence was something else. My 6 hour layover journey was filled with unhealthy food, shopping, and filling out study abroad forms. Made a 'Can you watch over my stuff while I pee?' type of friend at the gate. Met a lot of people that are originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina who live in SLC while boarding. And of course, because all of this wasn't enough - I got selected for the random security check. Divine.
The flight itself wasn't bad. The plane was pretty empty so I got an entire row to myself! I put down the arm rests and laid down. Did a bit of work, watched shows, etc. Even took a nap! The turbulence somewhere in the middle was gut-wrenching and I again thought I would die and never be found in the ocean, but hey, that gives it a bit of spice.
Salt Lake City was okay, besides the fact I had to wait for 5 hours.
There were some other misfortunes that couldn't make it onto the blog, but I promise my luck just never kicks in I guess.
According to EU air passenger rights, I am owed 600 euros now, and my airline is cute if they think I will give it up after this torture. Research your rights friends! And I hope your semester starts off better than mine!
